Every Investor Should Do More of This In 2024

Charlie Munger was a voracious reader, and used to say that investing is a subset of "worldly wisdom."

He made it his life's mission to gather this "worldly wisdom" from everywhere—psychology, history, finance, math, physics, philosophy, biology, you name it. He thought that if you mix all of these different ideas together, you'll get something more valuable than each part alone.

Charlie also said that, "If it’s wisdom you are after, you are going to spend a lot of time sitting on your a** and reading.”

So, connecting the dots here, becoming a wise and experienced investor is going to require an immense amount of reading, which makes sense, and is an idea that all investors should pay attention to.

Personally speaking, I read more books in 2023 than probably any other year of my life, and it wasn't something I particularly enjoyed at first.

I found it hard to make my way through a few pages without getting distracted (which tells you something about my attention span), but that went away with practice and repetition, and now reading is one of my favorite things to do.

I've come to appreciate just how much it allows you to soak up the experiences and insights of others. In a matter of days or weeks, you can learn what likely took the author many years to learn the hard way.

Put differently, reading offers a shortcut to "worldly wisdom" without making all the mistakes yourself, and as lifelong investors (and learners), it's something we should all strive to do more of in 2024 and beyond....but where to start?

Well, if it helps, this is what my reading list looks like for the New Year:

Out of that stack, I'm planning on starting with Onward by Howard Schultz, which details his return as the CEO of Starbucks in 2008. Since Starbucks is a big deal in my portfolio, diving into the CEO's story is exciting to me, and I know I'll learn a lot by reading about the company from the person who built it.

If none of those books jump out at you, no worries. I've got three more for you that I think you'll really enjoy:

Richer, Wiser, Happier by William Green: This book shares insights from interviews with the world's top investors including Charlie Munger, Mohnish Pabrai, Guy Spier, and many more, revealing that their success reaches far beyond the accumulation of money.

The Snowball by Alice Schroeder: A must-read biography on Warren Buffett. This one is a gold mine for any investor, and I had a hard time putting it down when I was going through it.

The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel: This book shares 19 short stories exploring the strange ways people think about money and teaches you how to make better sense of one of life’s most important topics.

With that said, I want to hear from you: What are some of your favorite books, and what's on your reading list for 2024? Write to me here and let me know.

And a big thank you to the 23 readers who responded to last week's newsletter! You can check out some of the responses at the bottom of this email in the "Hot Takes" section. 👇

Dividend Investing Democratized

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IN MY PORTFOLIO 📈

PURCHASES

V - 2 shares @ $260.58 (new position)

DIVIDENDS

No dividends this week. 😢

Weekly Total: $0

Monthly Total: $0

Annual Total: $0

ICYMI 🎥

3 Deeply DISCOUNTED Dividend Stocks To Buy In January 2024 💰

I'll be honest, with how much stock prices have run up these last couple of months, there isn't much out there that excites me right now. Despite that, there are three stocks that I think still look attractively valued despite what the rest of the market is doing, and I'll be honing in on them in this video.

All three of these stocks are currently priced at a bargain and look like prime pickups for your portfolio right now. I actually have two out of the three in my own portfolio, and have been swooping up more shares of both!

WATCH THE VIDEO

CAREFULLY CURATED 🔍

📺 The Simple Path To Be A Millionaire - It's true, anyone can achieve millionaire status. All you have to do is follow this simple process process laid out by Russ Knopf.

🎧 Proctor and Gamble's Innovation Transformation - When Kathy Fish became Procter & Gamble’s Chief Research, Development & Innovation Officer in 2014, she was concerned that the company had lost its way. In her eyes, Proctor and Gamble had lost its capability to innovate, and to reignite the fire would require a substantial transformation from within. This episode of the Cold Call podcast discusses that in more detail, and is a must-listen for any PG shareholders out there.

📚 The 10 Best Dividend Stocks - The good people at Morningstar think that investors should look beyond a stock’s yield and opt for investments with durable dividends. Those are the better buys, and this article covers ten of them.

SINCE YOU ASKED 💬

"My question is for those who started this journey later in life. What do you think is the best strategy for someone who is starting this process I their mid-40s?"

- Nickolas | Email submission

For someone in their mid-40s just beginning to invest, the overall approach is pretty similar to someone starting younger. However, since time is a bit more limited, you may want to consider investing a larger amount every week or month to make up for that lost time.

Having said that, living off of dividends some day is not at all out of the question. With a solid 20-25 years of compounding, you'll be pleasantly surprised to see just how large your portfolio can grow. Even in the worst-case scenario, your dividends can supplement your income during retirement even if they aren't entirely funding it.

If you want to see what your future portfolio might look like, try plugging some numbers into this helpful dividend calculator. It's free to use, and can give you an idea of what your dividend income could grow into down the road.

Have a question? Ask me here to see it featured in an upcoming newsletter.

HOT TAKES 🔥

Last week, I asked readers about their investment goals for 2024. Here are some of the responses:

Josh said: I want to double my dividend income $300 this year, end the year with positive growth, open a Robinhood IRA to take advantage of their matching, and acquire 10 shares of SCHD.

Michael said: In 2024 my goals were very similar to what you have. My company started a 401k with match, and I was happy to invest in it. I wasn't able to however max it out the last year. So that is goal one this year, and I have changed my contribution rate to see that through. Secondly I am looking to tighten up my investments. I have some....let's say unsavory investments from my early days of investing, so I am looking for good exit opportunities this year and to move that capital into some better options. I am primarily focusing on setting up my portfolio so that I have solid stocks that fall in line with each other so I can cash flow every week! As an example in January I'm looking at WMT, MO, WPC, and CSCO (not sure on this last one may find something different).

Tanya said: Amazing goals you have set for 2024! They're totally doable and I love the focus on SCHD. I also plan on adding more shares of SCHD as well as reaching a projected 1000$ of annual dividends. Currently, I'm sitting at 545$ of annual dividends. It won't be easy, but I'll do my best.

Deepa said: I have goals to reach $1,250 in dividend income in 2024, a portfolio value of $25,000, rn I'm at $10K (Should be able to, stretch goal is $30k), and I want to set up 15 auto investing actions/week (rn I'm at 10).

Cedric said: I plan to streamline some of my holdings in my Roth and Taxable account and buy more VTI and SCHD. I am waiting for the year mark for the stocks I am thinking about selling.

DREAMING OF MORE DIVIDENDS? 💰

That's all for this week's newsletter!

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